The New Year begins!

Hello everyone! As always, it's been a long time since I've posted, and yet again this will be more or less a quick in and out to update you guys and say hi. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

My first order of business is to give you guys a huge thank you! The video I posted on the stitch used in my Forever 21 scarf has over 7000 views, and I have more than 70 people subscribed to my channel after just 1 video! I know that's small potatoes in the YouTube world, but it makes me feel warm inside that people are interested by what I do. Stay tuned, YouTube viewers, as another video is (eventually) forthcoming, although this one is oriented toward fashion rather than crafting. I hope you all will like it!

Also, I wanted to submit some proof to you all that I have actually been crafting during my long silences. So here are a couple of the things that have been occupying my time.

Pictured above, a shirtdress I picked up at the thrift store. It was much longer before and made me look absolutely ridiculous, so I had to hack off several inches, and now it's stylin'! Action shots will come in the future.

At the top is my new tote bag, made using this tutorial. The gray is a suede fabric, and the print is blue and gray with black characters, cranes, and other very Oriental-looking designs.

Below it is a black infinity scarf made using a lacy pattern from the book The Harmony Guide to Crochet Stitches, called the Open Crescent stitch. It's a great book I picked up for just a few bucks from a resale shop. I used Caron Simply Soft Black yarn and a G hook.

The gray is a scarf I made for my boyfriend using the free Lion Brand Thermal Scarf pattern. It's super stretchy and warm, and I might end up making my own in a more colorful yarn. I used Caron Simply Soft Heather Gray and a J hook.

The two turtles I have there are the first of 7 turtles made as presents for some of the friends I've made here at med school. Clearly not as much crocheting got done over break as there should have been. >_>

The black hat is a (possibly) work in progress. I wanted to imitate the hat I wore in the photo below, but I can't figure out knit cables to save my life.

I used another pattern from the crochet stitches book to try to imitate cables, but it doesn't involve post stitches, but puff stitches instead. I say possibly a work in progress because my original intention was to add a brim, but I'm not sure if it's necessary. Also, the ribbing (which was added on using this tutorial) is just a tad tight, enough so that every time I put it on I need to fuss with my hair in order for it to look right. Still, I'd say it's already a pretty rocking success.

It was also made with Caron Simply Soft Black yarn and an H hook.

This white hat was made using the famous Pretty Puffs slouchy hat pattern. I learned a lot from this hat. I was not using the same weight of yarn as she did or the same hook size, so I couldn't be sure that following her pattern exactly would get me the results I wanted. I was using DK weight yarn (sorry, don't remember the brand) and (I believe) a J hook. I ended up only needing to add an extra row of increases to get the hat to fit right, but it took me three tries and lots and lots of frogging to figure that out.

So that's what I've been up to! For 2012, I have so many projects I want to tackle, and I'm really really excited for the new year! Did you guys make any New Year's resolutions? Do you also have a massive list of crafty things to accomplish?

Thanks for sticking around! I will see you next time!

-Annie

History told in turtles

Hi there! Long time no see, yes? I have been, and still am, completely swamped with applications and schoolwork, so work on the blog suffered, unfortunately. Some crafting has taken place and I hope that soon I will be able to get some photos taken and proper entries written about them.

That, though, will have to wait for another time! For now, I'd like to share with you what probably really sucked me into crocheting: the famous Tiny Striped Turtle by KristieMN of Crochetville. This pattern has been bouncing around the interwebz for nearly 4 years now, and it is a great pattern, in my opinion, for beginners at amigurumi. I mean, everything is round, how can it go wrong???

 
So like I said, this is pattern is probably responsible for my obsession now. In order to master it, I spent days learning how to crochet in the round (you have no idea how hard it was for me to figure out how to count stitches >_>). Switching colors was another experiment that the turtle dared me to try. So with my first H hook and my grandmother's eight-year-old baby yarn, I crocheted my very first turtle!

Introducing...um...well, Turtle Number One, I guess he doesn't have a name. I used all yellow WW yarn and two gold beads I found in my stash as his eyes. When I went to show it off to my mom, she totally fell in love and asked to have it! So now Number One lives in her office, tending to the paper roses I gave her for Mother's Day. He's done a great job so far!

Next is Mr. T. I crocheted this little guy for my boyfriend, who suggested all the crazy color changing in the first place. Although I don't think I'd do it again (for turtles, at least) the half and half pattern on the head left a very interesting stitching-like pattern. He's especially tiny (see Chapstick for reference) because I hadn't learned to stuff the bejeezus out of these guys yet.

Then, I wanted to experiment with crocheting with embroidery floss. Unfortunately, I attempted this with an E hook which was waaaaaaay to big. As such, Tiny Tim here is quite holey and can only hold a certain amount of stuffing without showing off his insides. This means he's a bit sad and floppy, and certainly too delicate to be the keychain I'd intended him to be. Hence the name.

Enough with the altruism! I wanted a turtle for myself! After the slight fiasco with the super thin embroidery floss, I went the opposite direction and used some of the Homespun yarn left over from my first and only hand-knit scarf. This is Misty. By the time I made her, I had learned two very important things about the Tiny Striped Turtle species. One, they need to be stuffed. The cuteness factor is directly proportional to the amount of stuffing that can feasibly fit inside these guys. And two, if you add weights to the shell portion, the hugeness of the head won't cause your turtle to topple forward (which is why Number One is always gazing up at Mom's flowers, not scanning the perimeter as a good guard should do).

I decided to do something a little more ambitious. You may remember my Japan-ophile friend Katherine who received this (if I do say so myself) adorable sakura purse from me for her birthday. Well, she was just as much of a Japan-ophile back then (about one and a half years ago), so I decided to make her a Japanese flag turtle! She totally loved it, and even tells me that she gave it a little flag made from a toothpick and paper saying, "Ganbatte!" or "Do your best!" >_< SO FREAKING CUTE

Since she is half-Greek, I was actually hoping to do a Greek flag turtle for her, too. Then, after exhausting my vocabulary of curses on the red dot on Japan's behind, I gave up on Greece. Serious props to anyone with the nerve to even try it.

This here turtle was for my friend, Daniel. I feel like I rushed the process a bit...looking back on it I wish I had paid more attention to the stuffing. Still, I think he really liked it, as he spent a great deal of that day thrusting Turtle Number Six in people's faces with a silly grin on his.

Meet Enrique. Enrique is a cross-dresser who patrols my roommate Bing's desk. It kind of hurts that my own creation won't let me take just a leeeeeetle peek at Bing's super-secret world-domination plans. Or maybe she's hiding chocolate in there? I'll never know, because old Enrique is more than a match for me. T_T

After learning about my mad crochet skillz (HAHAHAHAHAHA), two of my friends asked for turtles of their own. This is the first completed one. As described by the recipient, Margie, "It's a he/she named Charlie." Hmm...have my turtles suddenly become genderbenders or something? Anyways, you can't really tell in the picture, but Charlie is actually crocheted from Simply Soft Persimmon and Sunshine yarn, very bright colors that sadly washed out in the webcam. You can see the Persimmon in my infinity scarf, and just picture a very bright, warm yellow for the Sunshine. The other turtle (fully crocheted, just needs to be stuffed and assembled) is in Sunshine and Chocolate, and should be finished...soon... <_<  >_>

Well, that's all for today, folks! The history of nine turtles (or maybe eight and a half). If you haven't tried this pattern, DO IT. It's so easy and quick, and it is seriously one of the most adorable things I have ever seen. Their turtle tushies are especially cute with the big round butt and stubby legs and tail. I hope you enjoyed!